Bill Buitenhuys wrote:1. '96 Monprivato - because I don't have the Bartolo or the Giacosa riserva (but Joe does...mwahhhahahahaa)

I'm seeing a trend

2. '99 Merryvale Profile - because we bought this on our honeymoon and at the time it was quite a leap for us to spend more than $30 on any wine that we werent going to consume immediately. This wine drove me to get our first lil wine fridge. 4. '97 Chapoutier Le Bernardine CdP - Lill and I had this on our first date and I finally found another bottle of it. The recent reviews are only average at best and it was never a really great wine but it will be fun reminiscing when we open it.

Great ones! Amy and I drank all our "us" wines. On our first date four and a half years ago I opened a 1989 Kracher BA, and on our first anniversary we had 1983 Lorentz SGN but we already went through our few remaining bottles of each. Of course, I am open to making new, more available, "us" wines

JoePerry wrote:So, what wines in your cellar are you the most excited about cracking and why?

So, Joey, glad to see you here too...

The wines in my holdings I am most excited about opening this week (forgive me if I can't muster excitement fot next week yet, as I prefer to concentrate on the present moment) are a whole bevy of 2005 Muscadets from Marc Ollivier, Jo Landron and other good folks in the Nantais, which ahve arrived over the last ten days in 750 and magnum, by the caseload in almost every instance.

Your 1988 Tondonia Blanco is a pretty specimen. It's nicely focused, though perhaps it could seem a bit less-than in comparison to the magnificent '85 and '81 Reservas. Still, it's quite satisfying, especially with the right kind of food.

I do believe I posted notes on the '85 Contino Reserva either here or in Wine Therapy not so long ago. It was at the time of Eric Texier's next-to-last visit to our fair isle, when he met a group including the Metasapient, Jeff Connell, Joe Dougherty and yours truly for drinks and dinner at Cendrillon. My contribution to the soirée was an '85 Tondonia Blanco Reserva (of all things) and an '85 Contino. The Contino was described by myself and others as displaying a certain Nuits-Saint-Georges-meets-Saint-Emilion streak by dint of deep earthiness and some iron-like (o perhaps bloodish) notes. A very masculine, elegant and together bottle of Rioja that is perhaps not at peak yet.

Oh, and before I ofrget, let me add to my "excitement" list the 2005 Pinon "Cuvée Tradition", which came in today. And my next bottle of I Clivi, which gives me a perverse, scary sort of thrill... Will it be corked?

The wines in my holdings I am most excited about opening this week (forgive me if I can't muster excitement fot next week yet, as I prefer to concentrate on the present moment) are a whole bevy of 2005 Muscadets from Marc Ollivier, Jo Landron and other good folks in the Nantais, which ahve arrived over the last ten days in 750 and magnum, by the caseload in almost every instance.

How many oysters can you eat in a week?

I'm roasting a Dominican-style Suckling Pig in a few weeks, so I may be begging some of your infinite pork-wisdom in the near future.

Wine is just fermented grape juice. The experience is what makes it more.

Truer words were never spoken....

I agree and disagree. While I agree with the spirit and wisdom of what is being said, the brevity could be misunderstood - oceans are just bodies of collected water, mountains simply formations of earth, diamonds just compressed carbon, humans just carbon-based life forms themselves.

Like many things, wine is greater than the sum of its parts.

For people, some of the wines listed will be experienced on important days, while others are so inherently special to the individual that they will dictate the experience itself.

Wine is just fermented grape juice. The experience is what makes it more.

Truer words were never spoken....

I disgaree. If that were true then the world would be satisfied with 2 Buck Chuck. There's something magic in the transformation from juice to wine, and it's not just the creation of alcohol. Aromas and flavors are created that dazzle and beguile us, holding our interest for hour upon hour (when normally we hit the clicker after 30 seconds). Wine brought so many people together, making the experience of the wine all the more special, but it was the wine that brought us together in the first place. It's a chicken and egg, or the snake eating its tail; there's no beginning and no end.

The wine would be minimized without the experience, but there would be far fewer of these magical experiences without the wine.

Oh, and as for "honey" bottles, we're sitting on a stas of '89s, some great, some not so great, to carry us through many an anniversary. The "important" one is the '89 Krug, waiting until 2009, and our 20th anniversary.

As many as it takes. I can get very creative about bivalves to pair with Muscadet. Oh, and considering the levels of "gras" in these '05s (the ones I've tasted so far), they could very well provide for good pairings far beyond oyesters and seafood.

I'm roasting a Dominican-style Suckling Pig in a few weeks, so I may be begging some of your infinite pork-wisdom in the near future.

If you are to pick a style from the Hispanic Caribbean in which to do a pig, I suggest you aim for Cuban, which is the non plus ultra. The Dominican and Puertorrican styles are merely derivates with minute variations. Where the islands differ is in what they use to accompany the pig at table...

How long do you plan on holding this? Just wondering how long it will age.

Rahsaan, I made an error in the original post. The Prum WS Spatlese that I have is a 2001, not a 2000. The drinking window recommendation I have seen for the '01 are 2004 thru 2012. I was thinking of drinking one bottle in '07 and deciding what to do with the second bottle based on the result.

Sam

"The biggest problem most people have is that they think they shouldn't have any." - Tony Robbins

Randy Buckner wrote:Quote: Wine is just fermented grape juice. The experience is what makes it more.

Truer words were never spoken....

Randy, The first sentence is certainly true. The second sentence can never be true in a literal since, minus transmorgification. Taken together the two sentences sorely miss the mark as to what wine is all about and why many of us enjoy it. It's the product of that "fermentation" with all of the accompaning "how's", "when's", "where's" and "why's" that make the resulting beverage into much more than simple grape juice. If not I could just throw a shot of vodka into some Hi-C and be completely satisfied. The experience can create a synergy which enhances consumption, but I can certainly enjoy a nice Alsatian Gewurztraminer all by myself. In fact, I did so just last night - Go Trimbach!

Sam

"The biggest problem most people have is that they think they shouldn't have any." - Tony Robbins

Manuel wrote:they could very well provide for good pairings far beyond oyesters and seafood.

I'm going to stock up on '05's today. What suggestions for food matches do you have other than the usual suspects?

From what I've managed to taste so far (the Pépière and Jo Landron "basic cuvées), these are broader, sweeter wines than the '04s. This is what leads me to speculate in the direction of food pairings beyond oysters or obvious shellfish. I was htinking of experimenting with fowl in light cream sauces, any number of mushroom-based dishes and maybe some cheeses, to. Nothing too adventurous, but I think '05 is going to provide for some food-pairing versatility, Muscadet-wise.

How long do you plan on holding this? Just wondering how long it will age.

Rahsaan, I made an error in the original post. The Prum WS Spatlese that I have is a 2001, not a 2000. The drinking window recommendation I have seen for the '01 are 2004 thru 2012. I was thinking of drinking one bottle in '07 and deciding what to do with the second bottle based on the result.

Put down that spatlese! Back away slowly. Keep your hands where i can see them. The drinking window for the 2001 WS Spatlese hasn't even come close yet. It's more like 2016-2030. Right now it's a sulphur bomb.

Manuel wrote:but I think '05 is going to provide for some food-pairing versatility, Muscadet-wise.

Thanks, Manuel. The "only" '05 I've found around here so far is the Briords. I hope to try it this weekend.

It's quite delicious, personally and on first impression, I found '04 Briords to be more compelling than '05. But the one I had over the past three evenings was only the first bottle. That perception may change yet.

David Bueker wrote:Put down that spatlese! Back away slowly. Keep your hands where i can see them. The drinking window for the 2001 WS Spatlese hasn't even come close yet. It's more like 2016-2030.

Wazat you say David?!!! Oh, the horror... 2016-2030... might as well be infinity! My handy Wine Spec vintage guide says "drink away". Seeing as how they have been wrong before I will follow your advice. I can't promise to wait for '16 to crack a bottle, but I will see how patient I'm feeling in 2010. If things change please let me know.

Sam

"The biggest problem most people have is that they think they shouldn't have any." - Tony Robbins

Sam Platt wrote:Wazat you say David?!!! Oh, the horror... 2016-2030... might as well be infinity! My handy Wine Spec vintage guide says "drink away". Seeing as how they have been wrong before I will follow your advice. I can't promise to wait for '16 to crack a bottle, but I will see how patient I'm feeling in 2010. If things change please let me know.

Here I will present once again my argument for buying by the case, at least as far as certain wines from certain vintages that I intend to cellar goes. With a case, if I feel like opening a bottle now, I'm sure to have some left to try "alternative" drinking windows all over the spectrum... If one can't make the passage of time accomodate one's desires, hel, might as well subvert a thing or two...

David Bueker wrote:Put down that spatlese! Back away slowly. Keep your hands where i can see them. The drinking window for the 2001 WS Spatlese hasn't even come close yet. It's more like 2016-2030.

Wazat you say David?!!! Oh, the horror... 2016-2030... might as well be infinity! My handy Wine Spec vintage guide says "drink away". Seeing as how they have been wrong before I will follow your advice. I can't promise to wait for '16 to crack a bottle, but I will see how patient I'm feeling in 2010. If things change please let me know.

There is one way to drink it in the near future. Splash decant before breakfast and drink it with dinner. It won't be what it could be, but it will still be very good.

As for Wine Spec drinking windows...they actually came to their senses with about the 2002 vintage. Before that time they were a drink now to two weeks from now magazine with the Germans.